Working via a digital platform

Digital platforms and mobile applications can be used for offering and receiving work assignments in exchange for pay, and they can act as intermediaries between workers and parties ordering the work. This page includes instructions for taking care of the legal obligations related to work conducted via platforms from the perspective of the individual conducting the work, the party ordering the work, and the platform itself.

Is the compensation for work wages or trade income?

When conducting work via a digital platform, the worker agrees on how the work is conducted either with the party ordering the work or with the platform. It is important to determine whether the compensation paid for the work is wages or trade income. This affects both the worker’s taxation and the payor’s obligations.

If the worker has entered into an employment contract with the platform or with the party that ordered the work, the compensation the worker receives is considered wages.
If the worker has not entered into an employment contract for the work, the worker receives non-wage compensation for their work, also known as trade income.

If you work as a light entrepreneur and use an invoicing service, the pay you receive from the invoicing service may also be either wages or trade income.

The parties can mutually agree whether they sign an employment contract or a commissioning contract. However, the contract must reflect the actual working conditions. If the working conditions are those of an employment relationship, legally the parties are considered to be in an employment relationship even if the contract states differently.

Read more about the difference between wages and trade income in the Tax Administration’s guidance Tax treatment of wages and trade income (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

Worker – use the correct tax card and know your responsibilities

First, check what kind of an agreement you have made with the party ordering the work or with the platform. Your responsibilities depend on whether you have entered into an employment contract and receive wages, or whether you receive trade income based on a commissioning contract.

If you earn wages, you need a tax card for wages

If you have entered into an employment contract with the platform or with the party ordering the work, the compensation you receive for your work is wages and the party paying you is your employer. You must give your employer a tax card for wages with your tax rate stated on it. Your employer will then withhold tax on your wages according to the tax card.

Withholding means that the employer takes a certain percentage amount of your wages during payment and transfers that amount to the Tax Administration. If you do not have a tax card, the withholding rate on your wages is 60%.

See the instructions for requesting a tax card

If you receive trade income, get a tax card for trade income or make prepayments

If you do not have an employment contract with the party ordering the work or with the platform, the compensation you receive for the work is trade income. How you pay taxes on trade income depends on whether you are in the prepayment register.

If you are not in the prepayment register, give the payor a tax card for trade income that specifies a withholding rate for trade income. The payor will withhold tax on the compensation according to the withholding rate stated on the tax card. Please note that you cannot use a tax rate for wages when you receive trade income. If you do not have a tax card for trade income, the payor will withhold tax at the rate of 60%.
If you are in the prepayment register, you must request prepayments and pay them on your own initiative. Prepayments are income taxes that are paid in advance. When you enter the prepayment register, you are registered as an entrepreneur and you receive a Business ID. This means you will also have to file a business tax return.

If you have not signed an employment contract and instead work on commission, you have certain legal obligations that employees working in under an employment contract do not have:

If the requirements for pension insurance are fulfilled, you must take care of your own earnings-related pension insurance.
If you have a Business ID, you must file business tax returns.
If the amount of trade income you earn per year amounts to more than €15,000, you must register for VAT.

If you receive wages for your work, the platform or the party that ordered the work will report the wages to the Incomes Register. Wages are always reported regardless of the amount. The payor will also report trade income to the Incomes Register if you are not in the prepayment register.

The information submitted to the Incomes Register will be shown on your pre-completed tax return, which you will receive in the spring of the following year. Check that the details are correct and make corrections as necessary.

You can claim deductions for work-related expenses, such as travel expenses and equipment costs, on the tax return. If you have not paid enough taxes during the year, you will have to pay the remaining amount as back taxes.

Digital platforms report information to the Tax Administration

Note that the company that manages the platform is also obligated to inform the Tax Administration of the transactions conducted via the platform. The Tax Administration receives information on income you earn from digital platforms, both from Finland and from abroad. The Tax Administration also supervises the reporting of these details for tax assessment.

If the party ordering the work is a household, i.e. a private individual, they do not need to withhold tax on the wages they pay to you if the wages amount to no more than €1,500 per year. However, you must still pay tax on this income, and the payor must report the wages to the Incomes Register.

If you receive no more than €1,500 per year in wages from one household, you do not need to give a tax card to them. However, you must take these wages into account when you determine the tax rate on your tax card for your other wage income. Remember to check that the wages reported by the household are stated correctly in your pre-completed tax return, which you receive the following spring.

The same threshold of €1,500 also applies to trade income paid by a household if you are not an entrepreneur and not in the prepayment register.

Invoicing service providers enable individuals to invoice clients for work without establishing a business. Individuals who use invoicing services are often called self-employed “light entrepreneurs”. A light entrepreneur pays the invoicing service a fee for their services.

Even if you receive your pay through an invoicing service, it is still considered either wages or trade income and you will still need the corresponding tax card in order to receive it.

Help in determining your obligations in different situations: Taxes and light enterprise – see instructions that match your circumstances

Reimbursement of travel expenses

In addition to the compensation for the work, your invoicing service may pay you reimbursement of travel expenses. However, this requires that you have agreed with your customer that they will reimburse your travel expenses. Reimbursement of travel expenses is exempt from tax.

Individuals living in Finland must also pay taxes in Finland for any income received from foreign sources. If you receive income from a foreign platform, you must pay income tax to Finland. Report the income by making additions to your pre-completed tax return. Also report any expenses relating to the income.

Obligations of the party ordering ther work

The platform usually acts as an intermediary between individuals conducting the work and parties ordering the work.

When you order work via a digital platform, the platform may take care of the legal obligations related to paying wages or trade income on your behalf.

If the platform does not take care of these obligations, you must take care of them yourself.

Help in determining your obligations in different situations: Employer’s obligations
Read more about the obligations of households as employers

In certain circumstances, you may be entitled to the tax credit for household expenses for work purchased via a digital platform.

Obligations of the digital platform

The digital platform may also have legal obligations related to the wages or trade income paid to the worker. In addition, the platform is obligated to keep records of the companies and individuals who have received income via the platform and report this information to the Tax Administration.

If the platform and the individual conducting the work have signed an employment contract, the platform is considered the worker’s employer.

As an employer, the platform must

withhold tax from the wages and submit an earnings payment report to the Incomes Register
pay employer's health insurance contributions
take care of other employer’s obligations, such as earnings-related pension insurance and unemployment insurance contributions.

If the platform and the individual conducting the work have not signed an employment contract, the compensation paid to the worker is considered trade income instead of wages. If the individual is not in the prepayment register, the platform is obligated to withhold tax on the trade income and submit an earnings payment report to the Incomes Register.

The platform can also act as an intermediary. This means that the individual conducting the work and the party ordering the work decide together whether they will sign an employment contract or whether the individual will work on commission. The platform and the customer ordering the work can agree that the platform takes care of the payment-related legal obligations on the customer’s behalf.

Digital platforms have reporting obligations

Since 2023, digital platforms have been subject to a new obligation to provide information on the platform economy.

Digital platform operators are required to collect data on the individuals and companies that use the platform to sell goods or personal services, such as accounting services or lectures.

The platform operator must report this data to the Tax Administration every year. In addition, the platform operator must inform the sellers of the details reported to the Tax Administration.

The reporting obligation applies to work conducted both online and in person. Indirect sales must be reported, as well. Indirect sales are sales where the platform purchases services from the worker and sells the services along to buyers.

Digital platforms are only obligated to report work that is conducted on the request of the party that ordered the work and that is compensated for based on the amount of time used or on the tasks performed. If the services provided are not tailored to the customer in question, they do not need to be reported. For example, the platform does not need to report fees charged for access to a ready-made online course or video lecture that has been created without being specifically commissioned by anyone.

If the platform only sells work conducted by its own employees, the reporting obligation does not apply.

Examples of work conducted via a digital platform

Example 1. Minna has registered as a user of a platform and its mobile application, and uses the app to look for work. A customer offers Minna a home-cleaning job. Minna signs an employment contract with the customer through the mobile app.

In this example, the platform only serves as an intermediary, although money also moves through the platform. However, the platform and the party ordering the work can agree that the platform pays Minna’s wages, withholds tax on it, and takes care of the employer’s contributions and insurance contributions on the behalf of the customer whose home Minna cleans.

The platform must report information on Minna and Minna’s sales to the Tax Administration by submitting the reporting platform operator’s annual information return.

Example 2. Matti does occasional renovation and refurbishment jobs via a platform’s mobile app. He uses his own tools and pays his own social insurance contribution. Matti and the platform have entered into a commissioning contract.

Matti goes to perform a painting job he has found through the mobile app. The customer has signed a separate contract with the platform. In this case, the platform is Matti’s commissioning customer and pays the compensation to Matti.

Matti is in the prepayment register, so the platform does not withhold tax on his trade income. Instead, Matti makes prepayments at his own initiative. Matti is not an employee of the platform, and therefore the platform must report information on Matti and Matti’s sales to the Tax Administration by submitting the reporting platform operator’s annual information return.

Example 3. Heikki works as a food delivery man for restaurants from time to time. He receives the assignments via a platform’s mobile app. Heikki and the platform have entered into a commissioning contract, according to which Heikki will deliver restaurant meals to customers using his own car based on the assignments he receives via the mobile app.

In this case, the platform is Heikki's commissioning customer and pays the compensation to Heikki for his delivery work. The compensation Heikki receives is trade income. Heikki is not in the prepayment register, so the platform withholds tax on the trade income. This is considered an indirect sale of a service, which the platform will have to report on the reporting platform operator’s annual information return.

Heikki has the right to tax deductions for direct expenses related to his meal delivery work. He keeps a record of the number of kilometres he has driven per year as part of his delivery work.

In 2024, Heikki’s total kilometres of meal delivery work amounts to 4,000. This means he can deduct 4,000 km × €0.28 = €1,120 (for 2024). Because this amount goes over the threshold of €750 (the amount of expenses for the production of income deducted automatically for everyone), Heikki has the right to claim a higher deduction that covers the actual expenses for the production of his income.

Example 4. Sini has registered as a user of a platform’s mobile app. Sini and the platform have entered into an employment contract. Sini’s job is to deliver meals from a restaurant to customers. The platform is Sini’s employer and pays Sini’s wages, withholds tax, and pays the employer’s contributions and insurance contributions. The platform reports Sini’s wages to the Incomes Register. Because Sini is employed by the platform, the platform does not need to submit the reporting platform operator’s annual information return on her work.

Sini has the right to tax deductions for her direct expenses related to the meal delivery work.

Page last updated 1/1/2021